When Your Boss is Younger than You

As more and more workers are delaying retirement, it’s quite possible that someday you’ll find yourself working for someone much younger than you, if you’re not already. And working for a younger boss can be unnerving if not a bit challenging.

“Earlier in my career I had someone reporting to me that was older than my father, and I have reported to people that are much younger than me,” Sheryl Huhn wrote on LinkedIn. “In fact, one actually said, ‘Wow, you’re older than my mother.’ What I have learned through this is that respect and working together toward the same goals are two of the most important principles that make this work.”

Huhn has been on both sides of this dynamic, years ago as a 29-year-old promoted to VP/General Manager of a corporation, and later in a 15-year career in workforce development.

“Don’t come across as having parental wisdom; however, don’t undersell your valuable experience—it’s a fine line,” life coach Nancy Sherr said. Step up and volunteer for jobs, she said: “A great way to shine is to contribute excellence from a place of deep experience while supporting your manager’s overall goals attainment.”

Consider taking a course in areas that may be of use to your company or called on in your role (promoting your work via social media, for example); it will make you a more valuable employee and help your career, says Sherr.

Shifman agrees. “Too often older workers are very quick to say—if it has to do with technology—‘I don’t know how to do that,’ instead of, ‘That’s something I would like to learn how to do,’” says Shifman. Besides, it’s a great way to edge out competition that doesn’t take the initiative to step it up.

6. Practice teamwork.

As a sales and education executive at Estee Lauder, Liz White took some of her more seasoned sales managers off the floor for a day to coach them one-on-one on several productivity software programs to make their work easier and more efficient. She did it, she said in an email to me, “to remove excessive road blocks so they could do what they do best.”

White, who’s now Director of Customer Development at Tempur-Pedic in Charleston, S.C, wrote in the LinkedIn discussion that in the past she’s hired several women with 20 to 30 years more experience than her. She summed it up nicely when she wrote, “I found that mutual respect and aligning on a common goal allowed us to share what we knew best.”